Mr. Hammond mentioned that the schedule of bills, Financial Report, Budget-to-Actual Reports and Energy Cost reports were included in the agenda. The reports reflect the first two months of the fiscal year. He mentioned that the District General Fund's revenues exceeded expenditures through the month of August by $1,507,000. However, the previous fiscal year's revenues exceeded expenditures by $1,677,000. Expenditures for the first two months of this fiscal year exceeded the previous year by $370,000 causing the negative results for this fiscal year. Mr. Hammond reminded the Board that this will be a difficult fiscal year due to cuts in State Funding and increases in salaries and benefits.

Board and Staff Reports:

Mr. Mock introduced Rod Smith, High School/Middle School Principal, who introduced Trae Cullen who is a senior this school year. Trae completed an Eagle Scout project over the summer which was the construction of a shelter at the Stadium to be used by band members, track teams members and visitors attending athletic events at the stadium. The Board and those in attendance applauded Trae's efforts and his achievement to become an Eagle Scout.

Chris Gasteier, Assistant Principal of Townsend Community School, presented to the Board the monthly Townsend report. Mr. Gasteier stated that Townsend has enrolled 248 new students since June 2017. He mentioned that Townsend has 1,238 active students and so far this school year over 5,419 exams have completed by the students. Mr. Gasteier was excited to report that Townsend had a successful Anti-bullying assembly at Lyman Harbor. In two sessions, there were approximately 1,800 students in attendance. Every school in Erie County sent students to the assembly. He recognized Alexis Dauch, Erie County Sheriff Deputy for organizing the event. Mr. Mock complemented Mr. Gasteier and thanked Townsend for making the assembly available for our Junior High students.

Public Participation:

Holly Miller spoke about the allocation of pool time at the High School. She has heard complaints from those who attend the Open Swim. The pool is being made available at times that are different from the last several years. She mentioned that parents are upset that they cannot send their children to open swim because it is offered immediately following the end of school and then after 7:00 p.m. There was a discussion on sharing pool times with the swim team, the diving team and the Polar Bear Swim Club. Mrs. Miller would like to return to the schedule she is accustomed to which is two nights a week from 6:30 to 7:30.

Gary Borchardt questioned the status and use of the "pipeline money." He asked if the pipeline revenue could only be used for construction of a new school. Mr. Hammond explained that the money that has been discussed is derived from additional property tax resulting from the value of the pipeline. The tax revenue would be available for the Board to allocate from mainly General Fund purposes which could be used for staffing, materials and supplies, services, utilities, and other expenses. A small portion of the tax revenue would be available for permanent improvement items to maintain the assets of the school. However, the General Fund dollars could be appropriated by the Board to pay the principal and interest payments of a bond used to build a new school. If the pipeline money does become a reality, the Board would be able to budget the anticipated revenue as they deem appropriate.

Vicki Meyers asked Mr. Hammond about the fee income that the District received from Townsend Community School from being their sponsor. Mr. Hammond responded that the District billed Townsend Community School slightly more than $125,000 for administering the District's role as being Sponsor for the 2016-17 school year. This amount was determined to be less than the maximum amount of 3%.

Introduction of Additional Items to the Agenda:

Mr. Hammond requested to add under his report Board Resolution number 17-18-20 a "then and now" resolution and he handed out the detail reports for Board Resolution number 17-18-15 the Official Budget for Fiscal Year 2017-18. Mr. Mock requested to remove item number 1, Board Resolution number 17-18-18 from the agenda.

Treasurer's Report:

Mr. Hammond presented to the Board a proposed Official Budget for the 2016-17 Fiscal Year. He stated that the General Fund budget is up 6.30% from last year's budget. The proposed budget this year for the General Fund is $16,572,862. The largest increase has been in the area of Special Education and the Board's legal expenses. The proposed budget for all funds is $18,391,176 which represents a 7.10% increase over last fiscal year's budget. The largest increase in the non-General Fund portion of the budget is the appropriation of the Hogrefe Science and Technology Grant funds.

Mr. Hammond explained the purpose of the next item on his report. In the 2015-16 fiscal year the General Fund Advanced $4,500 in June of 2016 into the Title I Federal Grant fund with the intention that once the Federal Funds were received, the advanced funds would be returned. However, there was an expenditure in the 2015-16 grant year that was determined to be not fully reimbursed leaving a shortfall of $2,105.91. These funds were not available to return to the General Fund. Resolution 17-18-17 will modify the previous advance in to a partial transfer in the amount of $2,105.91 since the funds are not available to be returned from the Grant funds.

Motion by Mr. Warner, seconded by Mr. Schoenegge, to adopt Board Resolution number 17-18-17 to authorize the Treasurer to amend an Advance to the Title I Federal Grant Fund for 2015-16 to a Transfer in the amount of $2,105.91; Roll call: Mr. Miller: aye, Mr. Schoenegge: aye, Mr. Sutorius: aye, Mr. Warner: aye, Mr. Lippert: aye.

Mr. Mock presented to the Board an analysis on the 2017 Ohio Department of Education Report Card. Mr. Mock converted the grades by category into a composite grade of a "C." The Sandusky Register had an article in the paper and the only comment on Margaretta Schools was that there were no changes from last year. The Administration and staff are preparing to analyze the results and develop strategies to make improvements across the grade levels for the 2017-18 school year.

Mr. Mock presented to the Board a copy of the District's Sponsor Report for Townsend Community School. Mr. Mock stated that the report was previously presented to Townsend's Governing Authority at their September Regular Board Meeting earlier in the month of September. Mr. Mock and Mr. Hammond reported on the preliminary results of the Sponsor evaluation report from the Ohio Department of Education. Mr. Mock stated that the District didn't perform well in the areas of Quality Practices and Compliance with State Laws. He feels there is a disconnect between what we submitted into the "EpiCenter" and what was evaluated by the Third Party evaluators. Mr. Hammond and Mr. Mock will be working on appealing the preliminary results with the goal of having an "Effective" grade on the Sponsor report card.

Mr. Mock distributed a document of all the facility projects completed or nearly completed between the end of last school year and the start up this school year. The projects included a lighting project to install LED lighting in the Elementary, Bus Garage, Vo-Ag building, the Field House and the Fitness Center; the Athletic Boosters Track replacement project, modifications to the High School Office to improve security measures for the building; locker replacements for areas in the High School hallways; and various improvements to classrooms with new flooring for the Junior High School Science classroom.

Mr. Mock told the Board that he, Carrie Keller and Mr. Hammond have been reviewing all of the Board's policies and have several recommendations for the Board to review. The changes and additions have been sent to you electronically for the first reading. We will have a second reading at the October meeting and then we will plan on implementing the new policies following the November meeting.

Motion by Mr. Sutorius, seconded by Mr. Schoenegge to employ under a Supplemental contracts Tranette Novak for up to ten(10) extended days of employment for Speech services, and Susan Miller for up to five (5) extended days of employment to participate in Step Up to Quality Program for Preschool; Roll call: Mr. Sutorius: aye, Mr. Warner: aye, Mr. Miller: aye, Mr. Schoenegge: aye, Mr. Lippert: aye.

Motion by Mr. Miller, seconded by Mr. Schoenegge, to approve the following volunteers:

Mr. Hammond reminded the Board members that the Ohio School Board's Association Capital Conference is scheduled for November 12th through 14th. Mr. Hammond asked the Board what their intentions are for attending the conference. Mr. Lippert asked if it were appropriate to invite Mandy Yetter. Mr. Hammond will contact the Ohio School Boards Association to see if she could be registered as a Board member elect, however, he requested Mrs. Yetter to let him know if she could attend. Mr. Hammond stated that Diane Keegan, who will begin her employment on October 2nd as an Assistant Treasurer has been registered to attend.